


take your time (or just take mine)

by postfixrevolution



Category: Persona 5, Persona Series
Genre: 2 guys chilling in the chips aisle....five feet apart bc they're nOT GAY!!, Canon Compliant, Friendship, M/M, Pre-Relationship, ryuji being oblivous about his own damn feelings
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-05-08
Updated: 2018-05-08
Packaged: 2019-05-03 22:36:31
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,088
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14579100
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/postfixrevolution/pseuds/postfixrevolution
Summary: They haunt the 24-hour convenience store two blocks away from Ryuji’s old middle school after Mementos. Something about that or the location makes Ryuji feel like a clumsy teen all over again, unsure of what to do with the way his legs and fingers jitter at the grateful, content smile Yusuke gives him for just enough shitty pocket change to buy him the cheapest pack of jagariko there.





	take your time (or just take mine)

**Author's Note:**

  * For [fledermauss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fledermauss/gifts).



> Commission for the lovely [fledermauss](https://archiveofourown.org/users/fledermauss/profile)! I hope you like it, Ech, and thanks for always supporting me!! <3
> 
> I've never written for Persona before, but I hope to do so a lot more in the future! ^^ Unbeta-ed. so forgive any small mistakes, and I hope you enjoy~

Ryuji fiddles restlessly with the cap of his soda, fingers itching to pop the cool metal top off and take a swig of the sugary, carbonated nectar inside. He still has to pay for it, though, and even if the quiet old woman at the register doesn’t recognize him with his bleached blonde hair, his middle school self remembers all too well; lethargic brown eyes flashed, and she divebombed like a hawk when impatient hands pulled open chip bags right before reaching the front, even with 200 yen wedged visibly between the foil bag and his fingers. After a long day in Mementos, even the  _ thought  _ of dealing with an entirely hypothetical scolding has Ryuji ready to drop dead.

With a huffy cluck of the tongue, he shoves his restless hand into his pocket, gaze flicking over toward the shop's only other customer. Yusuke is still poring over the store's selection of jagariko--which is sad, even for a small street corner convenience market--and still majority of the damn reason Ryuji's even  _ at  _ his old middle school haunt, and at half ‘til midnight, too. 

If someone ever asked, which Ryuji  _ knows  _ won’t happen-- but if someone did, he’d probably say something about the way Yusuke is shit at hiding how out of breath he is after an all out attack, like he’s running on the fumes of whatever shitty meal he was able to afford who knows how long ago. Like he’s some stick-thin kid who’s only stick-thin because his shit not-father locked him inside and painting instead of letting him run outside with the other carefree kids, because that damn well  _ is _ what happened.

Ryuji doesn’t need to know anything else to know that his pocket change couldn’t be used for anything better than: cheap jagariko at 30 minutes to midnight to remind some pensive boy with eyes the color of rainy days that he’s no longer that lonely kid with only paintbrushes and barebones wood walls for friends. It’s like middle school all over again, only this time, Ryuji’s the friend he wishes he had when he couldn’t face coming home and seeing his mom staring at a wall again, one cheek stained an angry, ugly red.

“I think I’m gonna go pay,” he blurts. A forceful shake of the head clears the thoughts from his mind. Yusuke’s eyes flicker over curiously. “You ready?”

His expression is, as always, pensive. Ryuji wonders a bit what he’s thinking about, but he’s mostly sure that he wouldn’t really get it, anyway.

“You mentioned spare change earlier,” Yusuke says in lieu of answering. “Are you certain you have enough?”

Ryuji makes a face, not that Yusuke is even facing in the right direction for him to see. Stormy grey eyes still look at the multi-colored containers lined up neatly on the shelf. Yusuke has the extra tax fees memorized for every possible price for those things and Ryuji knows he’s been trying to weigh out those numbers against the vague “spare change” that’s stuffed away somewhere in Ryuji’s pockets. 

“Dude, it’s just jagariko.” Ryuji wraps his fingers around the 1000 yen bill in his front pocket, neatly folded and hidden away since he left the house that morning. “Stop worryin’ and just pick one.”

Yusuke makes a noncommittal hum and Ryuji rolls his eyes, grabbing the nearest container--never mind it being the most expensive one-- and turning swiftly toward the front counter. Waving the pursuing boy away with the flippant toss of the hand, he slides the bill over to the woman at the register before Yusuke can peek over his shoulder and see it, shoving away the change she hands back just as cagily. When he turns around, he’s eye to eye with Yusuke.

“I was quite fine with any other--”

Ryuji shoves the jagariko into his hands, effectively silencing him and effectively breaking that silence with the crisp hiss of him twisting open his soda. He takes a large gulp, lips burning at the surge of carbonation, but it keeps him from looking at the way Yusuke is looking at him--puzzled grey eyes and long, fluttering lashes, darting between Ryuji and the stupid, premium potato sticks in his hands. There’s nothing on them, but Ryuji swipes away at his lips with the back of his hand anyway, if only just to have something to do with it.

“They’re just chips,” Ryuji insists again. It’s kinda for the both of them, because the look in Yusuke’s stormy grey eyes isn’t really doing  _ either  _ of them any favors. His leg jitters anxiously, although he doesn’t really have any reason to be, and he shoves his hand into his pocket again, the small spikes on the plastic lid pressing into his clenched palms. Ryuji presses his lips together and turns hazel eyes up to look at Yusuke. “You don’t have to make it a big deal, yeah?”

Yusuke exhales a soft laugh, lips pulling up into the same small smile he always makes, lowered eyes and a subtle curl of the lips, reserved but far from unfeeling. 

“Alright. Thank you, Ryuji.” He looks him firmly in the eye as he says it, still wearing that smile and sounding entirely too sincere. Something about it knocks the air clean out of Ryuji’s chest, and he takes another swig of soda, something almost like but too early to be sugar rush making him feel restless in his own skin. “Your generosity will not be forgotten.”

“Don’t worry about it, Yusuke.” Ryuji jerks his head in the direction of the chairs. “Let’s just sit down so you can finish your jagariko and we can go. It’s gettin’ late.”

With a firm nod, Yusuke sits down and opens his food, munching on the chips and looking pensive yet again. It could just be his face, really, but Ryuji finds himself wondering what he’s thinking about anyway, even if he ended up not being able to get it if he knew. Yusuke takes his time eating, and if he was being honest, Ryuji’s in no rush to finish his soda, either. 

The bright convenience store light makes their reflections in the window sharp, and Ryuji feels his lips pull up into a smile at the sight. Yusuke meets his reflection’s gaze curiously, and that only pulls his grin wider. He feels like an absolute idiot grinning from ear to ear out a tiny 24-hour convenience store window, but with Yusuke smiling contentedly back, there’s really nothing he can find wrong with it.

**Author's Note:**

> If you're interested in commissioning me, check out [my Twitter account](https://twitter.com/princeleons) for more info! <3


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